Article and method of treating reclaimed silk



Jan. 15, 1935. p v s 1,988,375

ARTICLE AND METHOD OF TREATING RECLAIMED SILK Filed June 14, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Q INVENTOR WITNESSES v I Isaac? Davis I, v N I I 'Mm/fl6? V ATTORNEY-5 I Jan. 15, 1935. L A 1,988,375

ARTICLE AND METHOD OF TREATING RECLAIMED SILK Filed June 14, 1,933 i 2Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR WITNESSES lczac ,Ua085 M BY ATTORN EYS Patented Jan. 15, 1935 ARTICLE AND METHOD OFTREATING 1 RECLAIMED SILK Isaac Davis, New York, N. Y.;

Application June 14, 1933, Serial No. 675,805

9Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus and the method of rejuvenating andtreating silk and particularly reclaimed si1k,"-. though the treatmentcould be used in connection with new silk, the object being to producetreated silk which is strong and wiry.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved process ormethod of treating silk whereby it becomes flufiy, kinky and curly whileimproving its strength.

A further object, more specifically, is to take old silk from old hose,knit fabrics or other silk, remove all vegetable matter and then subjectthe silk to the various steps of the' process,

whereby it is strengthened and rejuvenated so as to be strong orstronger than the original 'silk, and at the same time curly and flufiyso as 'to present a resilient yarn which will produce a resilient fabricwhen woven.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a silkwhich may be reclaimed and rejuvenate the same so that it will be.strong and wiry and present a long staple quality.

The invention also comprehends the method of treating silk threads oryarn in which theyardage per pound for the same gauge denier thicknessis increased so that when used in a woven fabric-and utilized as afiller, the desired resiliency is provided to the fabric.

The invention further comprehends and has for an object to provide themethod of treating old silk threads or yarn to replace the matter whichhas been lost in the use of the silk fabric or garment by washing andironing.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure l is a view partly in sectionshowing the apparatus used in decarbonizing vegetable matter from theold silk fabric or garments;

Figure 2 is a schematic view illustrating the manner of unravelingthread from a piece of fabric, together with two tanks for removingparafiine or other matter from the fabric and then reconditioning thefabric and applying the same with a strengthening solution;

Figure 3is a view illustrating two tanks and means for shifting acontainer from one tank to the other together with means for heatingsired manner as, for instance, as reclaimed threads or yarn as outlinedin my co-pending application filed October 8, 1932, Serial Number636,925, of which'this application is a continuation in part. The threador yarn to. be treated may be new silk but is preferably reclaimed yarn,that is, yarn from knit garments or hose or other fabric from which theyarn is removed and then treated.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates how the hoseor other garment may be placed in drum 9 through the door 10 fortreatment. As illustrated in this figure there is provided a housing 5which is substantially airtight, said housing havinga chimney or outlet6 with a damper 7 operating by a suitable handle 8. Arranged in thishousing, which is provided with the door 24, is a drum 9 having a shaft11 to which the pulley 12 is secured. A belt 14 is mounted on the pulley12 and is driven by the motor 15 whereby the drum 9 is rotated and thecontents more or less agitated so as to be acted upon by the gaseous andvaporous matter in the housing 5. Arranged in the housing or container16 is a supply of muriatic acid in any desired form, and this acid isheated by the heater 19 so as to give ofi fumes, which fumes passthrough the conduit 22 and are forced into the housing 5 by the fan orpump 23. A cover 1'7 is hingedly connected to the container 16 and isheld tightly in position by the screw 18. When yarn from old garmentsare to be rejuvenated or treated, the apparatus just described is usedso as to carbonize or burn away the cotton. or other vegetable mattercontained therein.

After the articles have been decarbonized as just mentioned they areremoved, placed in a dry heated chamber and dried thoroughly,

whereupon the carbonized articles may be shaken out and later the silkhose or other fabric is treated in various ways includingthe applicationof a suitable wax, as, for instance, parafline, as fully set forth in myabove mentioned co-pending application. The fabric after being treatedwith wax or the like is connected to a suitable support 27 by the hooks26, the fabric hanging down by the action of gravity so that the threads28 may be readily unraveled therefrom. These threads extend downwardlythrough a curved tube 29 which serves to cause the threads to passthrough the liquid in the container 30, which liquid is preferably hotwater or water sufliciently hot to melt the parafline or other treatingmatter applied to the yarn. The yarn 28 is then caused to move over thepulley 31 and again downwardly through the solution in the tank 32. Asthe thread leaves the solution in tank 32 it passes through an eyelet 34which .desired source.

used, it is dissolved by the same material as is v is substantially thesize of the yarn being treated and which serves to press the loosefilaments against the long stapleyarn and the material from tank 32 withwhich the silk thread has been coated is pressed into the silk threadthe tank 32 is not claimed in the present application, but it is 'fullyset forth and claimed in the above mentioned co-pending application.

The solution in tank 32 is varied somewhat but contains as its mostactive ingredient some form of excretion or oil from the dead mummy ofPreferably the silk worm oil made silk worms. from the dead mummy ofsilk worms is used, and this oil may be either refined or unrefined. Ifdesired, the entire liquid content of tank 32 may be made of this oil,though it has been found desirable under some circumstances to mix 'asmall quantity of carbolic acid and citric acid as well asformaldehyde-to the oil to purify and strengthen the yarn. For-instance,it has been found that a desirable solution is as follows:

% of the silkworm .oil, 1% of diluted carbolic acid, 5% citric acidcrystals and 19% additional formaldehyde mixed with water. Preferablywhen preparing this mixture the 1% of carbolic acid, which may bediluted with water, is first poured into the 75% of oil for purifyingthe same, and also preferably after the acid has been poured into theoil the oil and acid are stirred thoroughly. If the oil has been refinedthe acid may be eliminated. After the acid has been added, if the sameis used, the remaining ingredients are poured into the container and theentire mixture is thoroughly agitated and then allowed to stand forthree days in a cool place, after which it is ready for use.

- After the thread has been' passed through the solution in tank 32, andthen through the eyelet 34, it is allowed to dry and is then doubled andtwisted, if desired, aftemwvhich it is sub-v jeeted to an albumensolution.-

If desired, sodium silicate can be mixed with the albumen solution sothat yarn will be greatly strengthened. The albumen may be secured fromthe white of eggs or other organic albuminous matter, and when appliedeither with or without silicate, the yarn is rebuilt in a certain senseand strength is added thereto. The sodium silicate is preferably used inthe powdered form and may be secured from any desired source, while thealbumen may also be secured from any When the sodium silicate is used indissolving the albumen. However, a desirable form of albumen may besecured from eggs. To make a supply, a desired number of eggs are boileduntif they are hard and the whites thereof are removed. This is meltedby the aid of a solution of potassium hydro-oxide,

" caustic potash or caustic soda, either with or without heat. The silkyarn is then soaked in this solution so as to-be saturated therewith,

after which the yarn is removed. When the yarn is removed from thesolution just mentioned, it will carry with it a supply of albumen whichreally, impregnates the yarn and which,

acts with the material of the yarn to make the same strong and wiry.

In' carrying out this part of the process the yarn, preferably in theform of hanks, is dis-' posed in an open work receptacle 35, asshown inFigure 3, said receptacle being. suspended by a cable 36, the cablepassing over a pulley 3'1 mounted on a carriage 38, which travels on arail 39. The receptacle 35 is lowered into the tank 40 containing waterwhich is heated to the boiling point by any suitable means, as, forinstance, steam passing through pipe 42.

Preferably before the receptacle 35 has been submerged in the water 41,a supply of olive oil soap cut fine is added to the water. Usually about3% soap is added and then the receptacle 35 is lowered into the tank.The silk in receptacle 35 is usually left in the boiling water forthirty minutes, though if it is only a small quantity a less periodwould do. However, after the silk has been treated to this mixture ofwater and soap, the receptacle 35 is raised and moved over to tank 43,and is then quickly lowered into this tank. The liquid in tank 43 may bewater and is maintained at a low temperature by a suitable refrigerantpassing through pipe 44. Receptacle 35 with the yarn is left to chill intank 43 until the yarn has been thoroughly chilled and has reachedsubstantially the temperature of the water or other liquid in this tank.This action of boiling the water and then quickly subjecting the yarn tocold water serves to shrink or shrivel the silk yarn and this gives theyarn a kinky, curly, fluffy property. Usually for any considerablequantity of yarn it takes about one hour in tank 4 In order to preservethe kinky, curly, flufly properties of the silk yarn after the treatmentin tanks 40 and 43, theyarn is subjected to a further treatment topreserve shrinking and resiliency required. The yarn either in thecontainer 35 or removed therefrom is placed in another tank which isprovided with a'solution which will fix in a certain sense the desiredcurly, kinky, fiuily property of the silk. The

solution in this third tank contains approxi-.

mately two and one-half to three pounds casein to each one hundredpounds of silk thread or yarn. I

After the granulated casein has been dissolved in liquid ammonia in aseparate vessel, lukewarm water is added. To the dissolved caseinedsolution is added from to 1% refined or unrefined lactic acid which actsas agent to bring up the'cheese particles, and then the said caseinsolution is poured through a fine strainer where the cheese particlesremain in the strainer and the solution is then used to treat the silkyarn or silk thread, which solution helps to shrink the silk thread orsilk yarn, and said silk thread.

jected toa cold bath which is a solution of approximately 1% ton 2%formaldehyde in water.

This bath acts in preserving and hardening the matter previously addedto the silk. The yarn is left in the formaldehyde solution'forabouttwenty minutes and is then removed and above treatment the yarn wassubjected to a through an ordinary wringer. After being submitted to theformaldehyde and then wrung out, the yarn is subjected to another bathwhich consists of cold water and from 8 to 10% formic acid. The silk ispreferably hung on poles and is immersed in the solution. The poles arepreferably turned so that all parts of the silk thread or yarn will bethoroughly subjected to the bath. After this has taken place, the yarnis removed from the bath and is permitted to dry, preferably in the sun.When the yarn is dry, it presents a very strong silk thread which iscurly, kinky and fluffy and will remain in this condition.

In addition to the steps above mentioned, after the yarn has beensubjected to the silk worm oil it may also be subjected to a paste whichis.

somewhat similar to the worm-oil but presents certain ingredients whichwill make the yarn stronger. This paste is known as celisin paste.During the unwinding of cocoons the same are placed in hot water andwhile in the hot water some of the gums thereonkare dissolved orloosened and come off in the water. This gum which comes from the cocoonis called celisin,

. and according to the present invention this celisin which hasheretofore been thrown away is gathered together and is condensed intowhat may be ,called a loose paste; The worn out silk threads are runthrough this paste which has all the ingredients required to make theold silk threads stronger. It will therefore be seen that by using thispaste and the silk worm oil, as well as by the other treatmentsoutlined, the old silk threads are rejuvenated by supplying thereto theingredients found originally in the new silk strands as they come fromthe cocoon. By the various treatments, including theuse of formaldehydesolution and the paste above described, and the oil used, the yarnbecomes tough and consequently will hold the filaments together. 3

In carrying out theprocess' all the steps may be used to secure the bestpossible results, but, if desired, some of the steps can be omitted andstill desirable results are secured. For instance, when subjectingtheyarn to the silk worm oil the yarn could be treated with a solutionof formaldehyde and presenta yarn rejuvenated to a large extent.

Also, instead of using the silk worm oil, celisin paste could be usedand the paste hardened and if desired, the ol d silk yarn could betreated with silk worm oil as above set forth, to rejuvenate andstrengthen the same, and then treated with albumen in a pure state ordissolved in a solution of potassium hydro-oxide, caustic potash orcaustic soda. When using either or both of these steps, the yarn wouldbe much strengthened and rejuvenated and if to the mixture of water andformaldehyde and the silk worm oil and albumen added, it would becometough so that the yarn would be permanently strengthened. However, formost purposes, not only will the silk worm oil or the celisin be used,but albumen and both the oil and celisin, together with a tougheningsolution, as, for. instance, the formaldehyde solution. The formaldehydesolution acts both as a hardeningand toughening solution whereby theyarn is greatly strengthened. When the yarn has been treated in thismanner, it is complete as far as the strengthening is concerned, but tosecure a desired kinky, fluffy, curly condition, the treated yarn mustbe subjected to hot and cold baths to secure the desired resiliency.

I claim: 1. The method of rejuvenating worn silk yarn consisting inpassing the yarn while in a single strand through a body of silk wormoil and then rubbing the yarn as it leaves the bath.

2. The rnethod of rejuvenating worn silk yam consisting in subjectingthe'yarn to silk worm oil until the same has been saturated, and thenrubbing the yarn to remove the excess oil and to cause the filaments ofthe yarn to be pressed together.

3. The method of treating silk yarn consisting in subjecting the same tosilk worm oil, passing the same through a supply of celisin paste, andthen subjecting the oil and paste adhering to the yarn to a hardeningand toughening solution.

4. The method of rejuvenating worn silk yarn consisting in subjectingthe yarn to silk worm oil until the yarn has beensaturated and thensubjecting the oil treated yarn to,albumen dissolved in potassiumhydroxid or caustic soda.

5. A method of the class described including the saturation of silk yarnwith silk worm oil, rubbing the yarn after the oil has been applied andfinally passing the yarn through a fixing bath.

6. A method of the class described includin the saturationof silk yarnhaving filaments extending at different angles therefrom with silk wormoil, and then the treatment of the yarn by a rubbing action which willcause said filaments to move into contact with the main body of theyarn.

7. The method of rejuvenating worn silk yarn consisting in submergingthe yarn in a silk worm passing the yarn through a supply of excretionfrom the mummy of the silk worm, and then subjecting -the excretionadhering to the yarn to a. hardening and toughening solution.

ISAAC DAVIS.

